My guess would be a tricked out Alembic hewn from a solid block of gold with a plastic butter knife and was sent back in time to be thrown up on by Jimi Hendrix right before he died.
A custom one-off by an independent luthier could easily exceed the price of any Fodera or Warrior. Sky's the limit. Imagine an eleven string bass comprised of super-rare woods, complex electronic schemes, and real honest to goodness diamond neck marker inlays . . . solid 24 karat gold hardware . . .
IIRC the most expensive instrument ever is an upright bass? I think it is more expensive than Strativarius (sp?) violins - for some reason I recall it was actually a Strativarius bass - but that may be wrong. I'm sure one of the DB guys could chime in. As far as electric bass guitars go - there was a Warrior that was $20,000 (as were some limited edition SSDs?) - Im pretty sure some of those featured custom Alembics were over $20k as well.
yeah, a pre ww2 german double bass in perfect condition would fetch a nice price I am sure Keep in mind I do not know much of double basses, but this is just my thought.
I've seen one list @ $27,000. Their Sterling 25th Anniversary models list at $25,000. The inlay is Sterling silver. 25 were made. Hmmmm....25 basses were made for the 25th anniversary, listing at $25,000 each. {} Peace, James Details for those who care
Did I ever tell you how much I am beginning to hate you!? First the SSR and now this? Just stay off the Hot Chix and Bass Babes Threads, you are killing me!
Is that US dollars or AUS dollars or what??? And that is one mighty fine bass i think im ib love Rock out, Chips
The most expensive bass I've ever seen was a vintage Gibson EB-3 that was owned by Jack Bruce of Cream. It was selling for upwards of $60,000 on ebay. I don't know if that counts.
Many of John Entwistle's basses that were auctioned right after he died went upwards of $250k I believe.
yeah, uprights get waaaaaay up there... i remember reading a quote of a famous uprighter saying that if he didnt buy his bass he could have bought TWO ferarris!
Must be all the insane inlays they do. You have to sign up just to see some of their basses on the Warrior site, although I didn't bother. I'm not a fan of most Warrior body styles-most are just too darn pointy. Great inlays though.